A Dreamy Proposal
by Pinkbowbunny
Summary: Romantic Cedfia. College-aged Sofia has been a very busy girl, training to be the future King James Royal Adviser. With all her classes and responsibilities, she's got barely enough time to herself to sleep! And she's still not been getting enough sleep, because she's been too busy dreaming about a certain someone. But hey, dreams coming true is what being a princess is all about!


(( Inspired by a cute comic by the talented theoliviaocti! Thanks for being an awesome friend! ^^ ))

With Prince James' coronation on the looming horizon of his 25th birthday, Sofia had been a natural shoe-in for the position of Royal Adviser, particularly because she'd already been advising the royal hot-head since they were children.

But of course, just because she was a shoe-in, didn't mean she was automatically getting the position, any more than it meant James was just being handed the crown, either. There was a lot of work that went with receiving the new titles for both of them, but especially so for Sofia.

The princess had a fairly advanced knowledge of the history of Enchancia and its rulers since she was a child. However, now it was a requirement that she literally know –everything- there was to know about the kingdom's history. After all, those who do not know their history might be doomed to repeat it – And Sofia was surely –not- about to doom the entire kingdom with her just because she forgot to study up on the shortcomings of some 300-year-old prince or another.

There were also lessons to be learned about how to deal with all sorts of foreign dignitaries. Of course, Princess Sofia was always known for being an especially magnanimous princess with exceptional manners and extraordinary kindness – But then again, not everyone, not even all royals, are known for being especially magnanimous, exceptionally mannered, or extraordinarily kind. Thus, the princess was taking a class not only on how to be even more spectacularly respectful, but on how to deal gracefully with those with little to no manners at all, which could be quite grueling upon her patience some days.

In addition to that, she was also taking classes for an at least intermediate to advanced knowledge of all the other magical foreign kingdoms and their histories. After all, one can't expect a royal adviser not to know those of which they are advising about. You had to know not only where you stood, but where your fellows stood, and what their beliefs and customs were, as well as any past squabbles that might be brought up in a heated political situation.

All that, and that still wasn't counting her multiple magic classes – Advanced Charms class with Merryweather, Extreme Transformations with Fauna, Higher Herbology with Flora, and Progressive Potions with Cedric.

And even –STILL-, that wasn't counting her duties as the Story Keeper, which like every other duty in her life, she made sure not to neglect. She was much discussed in all the most respected magical education circles as being one of the brightest minds in sorcery the world over, but then again, it hadn't been leaving her with much time for anything else, namely sleeping...

Well, truth be told, she might have at least a little more time for sleeping, if she didn't spend half her nights thinking about a certain someone, a certain man, with whom she was hopelessly smitten, and had been for quite some time… But really, how is a woman so hopelessly in love to keep herself from thinking about the one who makes her heart want to burst with joy?

She would write poems and stories about him in her journals, and magic his face in the mirror, looking upon hers just as longingly as she did to his. And, to be honest, at least with herself if never to anyone else, she often spent time just wondering what he would look like without that bulky, frumpy robe of his on…

Yes, it was shamefully, piteously true… The Princess was in love with none other than her Potions Professor and long-time friend, the Royal Sorcerer, Cedric the Sensational himself!

Which, naturally, could make things rather just a bit awkward some days, particularly on days when Cedric had just given himself a fresh shave. But even on his stubble days, she found she couldn't help but stare at him longer than she meant to. Long enough for him to take notice, and ask her if she was paying attention to the potion he was demonstrating. Then she would have to look away from him quickly, and prove that she indeed had been paying attention to his lesson too – She was a prodigy, after all, so she was perfectly capable of paying attention to both his potions and his handsome, seasoned face at the same time.

He had a few wrinkles at his age, it was true, but his skin was still soft despite them. His brown eyes still sparkled when he got caught up in the middle of a particularly tricky potion recipe, or when he got it right on the first try (which was more often the case now that he had built up his skills and confidence over the years) and got to see his spectacular sorcery for himself.

Her head knew it could likely never be, but her heart would not accept it, no more than it would accept any of the boys that tried to draw her attention away over the years. Prince Hugo, Prince Desmond, even Prince Zandar had all tried, but she politely declined each and every one. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate their affections, but all the same – She could not return them. And she wasn't about to lead those poor boys along into a marriage where they would not be loved, she was much too kind to do something so inconsiderate.

So she entertained herself with her own thoughts instead, alone in her room late at night, she'd think of kissing that silly face of his for hours. She'd think of holding his hand, hugging his arm, massaging his shoulders, until she was too tired to think about anything anymore. She managed to keep these thoughts to herself at first, as she was well aware of the many reasons such a relationship would most likely never work. But after starting regular classes with him, and seeing him almost every day, it became much harder to forget how much she adored him, when she was reminded of it so often.

Some nights she lost track of time, and spent nearly the whole night wishing for and wanting him, until the sun just started to peek over the horizon. She had just spent such a night, dreaming about going up to his tower, as she did every weekday morning – But instead of pretending to be as interested in his potions as he was, she would simply kiss him, and show him what she was really so interested in herself…

She'd become used to her habits, just as much so as she was used to her daydreaming. So when the light of morning began to shine in through her window, she got out of bed and began to put on her gown, hardly aware of the fact that she hadn't slept a wink that night.

She ascended the stairs to his tower, but even the physical assertion didn't bring her out of the lull of her daydream. She'd ascended those stairs so many times before, and dreamed about doing so many more, that she hardly recognized the difference between the dream or reality of it. All she knew was that she had to see him, to look upon his face, and kiss him, like she'd been dreaming of doing for so very long…

When she arrived at his door, she didn't bother knocking. She simply opened the door and went inside. But then, since he had come to expect her at that time for a while, he didn't even blink her way as she did so, let along chastise her for it. He was too busy getting ready for their first project of the day, mixing magical ingredients into vials, tubes and beakers, his eyes transfixed on them.

A sleepy smile stretched across her face, and she thought to herself, 'What a hard worker he is… Bends over cauldrons all day and night, and yet he still gets up early in the morning to teach me…' It was clear by the bags under his own droopy eyes, that he was also not getting enough sleep, though not as little as the delirious princess was either…

'Mister Cedric always does his best and works hard…' Even if few besides her recognized it…

Indeed, her own father still often looked down on Cedric's abilities, which always made her so mad – Roland couldn't even do magic at all, so who was he to criticize Cedric's work? He didn't know how hard it could be to get a spell right, and as much as he praised Goodwin, it was in fact Goodwin's fault that Cedric messed up on his spells so often!

But he didn't mess up –quite- as often as he used to anymore, especially not when around Sofia, who would always praise and encourage him. 'He really is amazing…' She thought to herself as she advanced closer still, beckoned by that smooth, pale cheek, and the alluring smell of cinnamon and star anise oils in whatever it was that he was mixing. It smelled warm and sweet – Inviting. Enticing. Tempting…

Drifting through the still fresh memory of the dream she'd been having the night before, she decided, in her half-hazed state, to give 'her' hard-working man just a quick peck of a kiss to the cheek. But then, in her sluggishness and with the warm, heady scent of spices and orange blossom oil, she was lulled into pressing her lips to the man's cheek just a little firmer than she intended, and staying just a second longer.

Just as she was starting to question why the thin-but-plush skin beneath her lips felt so real, the silent inquiry was accompanied by the sound of a gasp, and a strong shiver against the kiss. Immediately after, they were followed by the sharp, chaotic sound of glass breaking, which finally snapped Sofia out of her dreamy state for good, and alerted her to the reality of her current moment – In which Cedric had swiftly rolled his chair back, giving them almost a foot of space, and stared at her in utter shock and bewilderment.

He couldn't even manage to blush at first. He was so shocked, he could only manage to stare at her with wide but strangely calm and expectant eyes – As if he had no doubt that she had to have a perfectly reasonable explanation for why she had just addressed him in a mumble as, 'My sorcerer'… At the same time though, he couldn't help but bring his fingertips and palm up to that cheek in a state of denial at the only logical reason his brain could come up with. But if THAT thought was logical, then his whole world had just been flipped upside down.

Her whole face went heated, and she stepped back quickly with a look of sheer mortification, utter embarrassment, and more than just a hint of dumbfounded disbelief. "Ohno," Slipped out of her mouth, while in her mind she managed to ask herself just slightly more eloquently, 'Wha… What did I just do…?'

She hadn't yet thought up an answer for herself when Cedric, disturbed by her equally shocked expression, blurted out more or less the same thing, with a growing ashen pallor across his own countenance. "W… Why did you just do that…?"

To her ever-increasing discomfort, she found she couldn't summon a credible-enough answer for that one. A few seconds passed between them, which to both felt like an eternity, before Sofia could stand it no more, and turned away to flee towards the door.

But once she reached it, she had come to realize that she couldn't just run away. After all, it wasn't as if they both didn't live in the same castle. It wasn't as if he wasn't her teacher, whom she was scheduled to see almost every morning. She would eventually have to explain herself, somehow.

There was of course the most obvious explanation, but for the first few seconds, she couldn't even bring herself to think of those truths, let alone utter them.

That was too silly though – How could she be so consumed by those thoughts that she couldn't even sleep without them, and yet be unable to utter them now? She knew she was braver than that. She'd been planning to face her feelings for a long time. It was just still much earlier than she'd expected…

Beyond flustered and overwhelmed, she finally just let her forehead fall against the wooden door with a 'thump', and began to cry. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to kiss you! I was so tired – I thought I was just dreaming!"

First alarmed by the potential bruising of her royal forehead against his chamber door, Cedric then proceeded to barely suppress his panic at the words that followed. Of course she was tired – Now that he had bothered to look away from his potions and towards her, he couldn't help but notice her dark, baggy eyes. They were almost as bad as his! But in realizing this, he almost tried to hope beyond hope that it meant that silly 'kiss' was actually the result of her tripping, in her state of exhaustion, and somehow landing on his cheek. He almost even let himself be relieved that she hadn't tripped on the stairs instead.

That was, until she started going on about all that 'dream' business… "…U-Um…" He mumbled in further confusion, "W-Why would you k-kiss me in a dream…?"

As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't. She stiffened up considerably in her own noticeable discomfort, before letting out a loud sigh, and knocking her forehead against the door in exasperation once more. "I didn't mean to tell you this yet… I was going to try to wait at least a couple more years… But then, I'd already been waiting for years, so… I guess the waiting finally got to me…"

"Waiting for –what-?" He demanded in utter confusion and exasperation. "What are you talking about?"

Turning from the door, she glanced back at him over her shoulder, reddened by the embarrassment of the confession to come, but also by the mark on her forehead from bumping it on his door. Cedric flinched at it as she went on, "I figured… You might meet a nice sorceress your age and get married someday... You were so cute when you had a crush on that Sasha character all those years ago. If only she wasn't an evil nasty impostor, of course. But I've been thinking for a while… Since not long after that time, actually… That if you never met a nice woman when I got older, that… That, I'd like to be your wife someday! Because I love you, Mister Cedric!"

That proclamation sent Cedric into a state of such strong shock, that he instinctively tried to push back from it, and ended up tipping over his chair, twisting as he fell and landing on his face. With a cry of surprise at his upheaval, Sofia forgot her shyness and quickly stepped over, leaning down and over to help him up.

She might have laughed at the comical matching red bump he now had on his forehead, if she wasn't still in such a tizzy. Instead she continued on as she tugged at his arm for him to get up, "Of course I had no intention of telling you all that today, if ever! I knew I was much too young for you when I realized my feelings for you. I'm probably still too young. But my feelings have not lessened over the years. They've only grown stronger. I didn't mean to tell you like this, but I've known I would have to tell you someday, for quite some time…"

"Stop." He commanded, putting his hand up as his vision still swam from the fall. "Please, stop, for just a minute…" Shaking the disorientation away, he rose to his feet again, with her help, and then took a great sigh. "So then… Precisely how much sleep have you been getting lately…?"

She frowned and then pouted, wrenching the truth from her lips. "Not nearly enough!" She admitted, "But I'm tired, NOT insane! I know what I'm saying to you now! Cedric! Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia!" She addressed him, formally and forcefully. "I'm in love with you! I've loved you since I was a child, and I've wanted to be yours and for you to be mine since I was barely more than that! I knew you would probably want to be with someone your own age, so I tried to wait – But I can't wait anymore. I need you to know this, now: I have loved you, at your best and at your worst. I have loved you, when you were sick and when you were healthy. And I know that I would until death did part us… If only you loved me back..."

She didn't ask it as an inquiry, simply let the fact be stated, for as she figured, Cedric simply couldn't accept all that she'd said at once, as he once again insisted, "P-Princess, you have clearly not had anywhere -near- enough rest as of late! I must insist that you take this morning off and go back to bed. I think once you've rested yourself, you'll probably forget this silliness and come back ready to denounce it…"

She sighed, and nodded, if only to the part about going back to bed. "You're right, I should go rest… But I'm sure I won't do the other thing at all. I think that once you've had some time to realize how serious I am about this, you'll figure out what you really want to do about it, and let me know the truth of the matter later… But, in order for you to make that choice fully-informed, I think it's only fair that I do this…"

She had convinced herself it was fair, at least, for her to fully demonstrate to him what she was offering - But really she just didn't want to go another day without sating her curiosity about what those thin lips would feel like against hers, especially since it might be her last and only chance to do so. And really, after nearly ten years, who could say she hadn't at least tried to be patient?

Even now, she strove to be patient with him - The poor man would probably have a heart attack if she unleashed all her passion upon him at once, after all. And she was still awfully drowsy from her irregular sleep schedule anyways. So she simply reached in, gently taking his jaw in each hand, and led her lips straight to his in a soft and simple kiss. A pure kiss. A kiss of love, with nothing else between the two of them - Save for Sofia's lip balm, and the strange dichotomy of a sense of comfort and awkwardness at the same time.

The awkwardness was actually more on Sofia's end though, who had no idea how Cedric would react to all this. On the other end, Cedric was actually quite surprised to find how familiar the sensation was. He'd strongly suspected for a long time that no woman would ever give him his first kiss, but that if one did, it would surely be so special that it would be like fireworks going off in his heart. While a sense of elation certainly did swell up within him, he also found the feeling of her lips to be strangely, but also comfortingly mundane. There was no great shock in the sensation, besides who was providing it.

This was because, in actuality, Sofia wasn't the first woman to kiss Cedric - Naturally, his mother had provided the clingy boy with many kisses during his childhood, and although it had been many years since Winifred began trading away her pecks on the lips for the more appropriate cheek-kisses, Cedric still remembered the feeling very well. Plump flesh, warm with just a line of wetness - For just a second or two, it lulled him into memories of yesteryear, of his mother's kisses, and how he used to stand on the tips of his toes to kiss her back. There was no need for him to reach up or down to Sofia, who in adulthood was almost the same height as him. But he couldn't help, led by impulse and muscle-memory, puckering up his lips to hers in simple reciprocation of the kiss.

Like Sofia, there was no passion in his kiss either. More than anything it was just a simple reflex. But it hadn't escaped Cedric, how comforting and peaceful it felt to kiss her. How natural and, well, just... Right.

Except, no. No, not right. Wrong. This was completely and utterly wrong, he reminded himself sharply and suddenly, as he finally realized what he was doing.

"Mmm-Wait!" He interrupted, inadvertently pressing his lips against her kiss just one last time before finally pulling away. "Wait, wait, wait-!"

He was about to go on a rant about why that was so wrong, and why they should never do it again, when Sofia softly murmured, "You kissed me back..."

His face had just been starting to turn pink, but then it jumped to full-blown red as she pointed that out. "I-It was an accident!" He sputtered to defend himself.

She quickly defended herself right back, though. "Well... It was an accident when I fell in love with you too, you know..."

Dash it all! With her casting her wistful blue eyes down like that, and her wavy, warm-brown locks flowing past them and her soft and slightly saddened smile... Cedric couldn't help but accidentally fall in love with her a bit, too. He'd loved her as well for almost as long, if not in that way. But it was a good foundation for the stirrings of longing and admiration now rising in his chest.

Of course, he still couldn't just accept that so easily. "Sofia, you must know how inappropriate this would look to everyone!" He wasn't quite as selfish as he used to be, but there was his own self-preservation to think about too. It had been a very long time since anyone was handed the death penalty in the kingdom of Enchancia, but Cedric was fairly sure that courting the King's daughter was one of those "slippery slopes" his father was always warning him about...

"Yes, I know..." She continued sadly, then peeked back up at him with hope, "But that's why I was saying earlier that I had plans to wait a few more years. If I wait until I'm nearly a spinster to marry, I'm sure my family would just be relieved I married at all, let alone to whom!"

"Of all the harebrained schemes..." Cedric groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Surely your mother has been bothering you about marrying a nice girl someday too, Cedric?" She inquired with a knowing smirk, hitting the nail right on the head, so to speak.

"Eh... Only for about thirty years or so..." The sorcerer admitted in a deeper groan, then picked himself back up with a sigh. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to marry just to appease her!"

"Of course not." Sofia nodded serenely. "And I wouldn't want you to marry me just to appease me, either. But are you even interested in taking a wife at all?"

He crossed his arms and looked away for a moment. "Well... I suppose I have given it thought a few times before... I'm certainly not looking for a husband, if that's what you mean." He added awkwardly, having overheard a few rumors time and again. "But as for taking a wife less than half my age? That I'm not so sure about at all..."

Again, she nodded with no apparently qualm, other than a soft sigh. "Yes, I could understand that..."

"But then," Cedric continued in a bit of a huff, drawing his crossed arms in towards his chest even tighter, and hunching his shoulders up in discomfort. "I couldn't marry any woman, no matter who she was, without courting her for quite some time..." Of course, even though he said that, he naturally would never marry just any woman, especially one as young as she was. But of all the young women that could have confessed to him, it just had to be -her-. If Amber, or Vivian, or any of the other princesses he'd tutored had come on to him like that, he would have rebuffed them. But it just had to be -her-. The most talented Sorceress in the entire kingdom, let alone in her class. The one person he had nearly always known was better than him in every day, and of course much too good for him. It was -her- that went and told him she loved him, the words he'd been longing to hear from someone for so long... "No matter what... It's just not proper to marry without a long courtship! At least a few years, you know!"

She nodded eagerly, but remained quiet as he continued to prattle on in his nervousness, "We've already known each other for years and years, but I would still insist upon a courtship of at least 3-5 years to determine whether or not this bizarre and perplexing proposition of yours is a good idea or not. But I'm still fairly sure that you'll know as soon as you've gotten a full day's rest!"

Sofia quickly interrupted him there, speaking in a gay little chirp and with a round sunny blush on her cheeks. "Of course, I find that all entirely acceptable as well! Tell me though Cedric - I'm guessing your mother has, at least a few times, also requested the eventual pitter-patter of grandchildren's feet? Of course unions between a man and woman are normally made with the intent of having children, especially those between magic-makers, who have not just social statuses but a blood-line to consider. So just so you're aware, I'd be happy to give your parents as many grandchildren as they wanted!"

It was a coy way of letting him know exactly how serious she was, and by that point, Cedric had turned his back on her entirely, tucking his head down to try and hide his heated ears and the near-maroon shade of red that they had become. "N-N-N-Noted!"

Giggling behind her hand, Sofia was soon exchanging it for a yawn. "Well! I think we've gotten our feelings clear now! So I suppose we should give each other some space and time, to process these things..."

"R-Right..." Cedric bashfully agreed, finally relaxing his shoulders a bit as he barely glanced over them. Just enough to cast his eyes on her blurred form, but not meeting eyes with her, for he was still too shy after what was just said, and for what he was about to say. "Well then, yes, you go ahead and take the rest of this morning off. But I expect you to be back bright and early the next day - And this Saturday too!"

Sofia blinked in confusion. "But sir? I don't have classes with you on the weekends?"

He sighed abrasively back at her, "Yes, I know that! But I said I couldn't marry you unless we had a long, and subtle, courtship with each other! So, can you make time this Saturday for a social call?"

She paused a second or two, before it clicked what he meant, "O-Oh! You mean, a date? You want to have a date this Saturday?" She giggled again, and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I think I can find a couple of hours to spend with you this Saturday, after... Hmm, Transformations class, my social etiquette class, late lunch, groom, exercise and groom Minimus again, a couple hours of study time-"

'Study time' was what she generally called spending time at her Secret Library, which was always 'required reading'. "Umm..." She squirmed a bit as she did the math. "Well, I suppose it would be dinner-time by then... But, I suppose we could have dinner together, up here!" She suddenly suggested, still wanting to find the extra time for him.

"Er... Would Sunday be better?" He amended awkwardly, but she apologetically shook her head.

"It would be about the same... But, I'll have much more time for dating, or, uh, 'courtship', once I've graduated my classes at the end of this year!"

"Ah yes. Of course." Cedric nodded sternly. "And naturally that's a stipulation for any potential marriage - That you graduate with the highest honors."

"I was already planning on it!" Sofia continued to coyly reply. "And for one last stipulation myself? I request to get a kiss after each class! I think it'll help me concentrate better if I'm not daydreaming about it all the time instead..."

Again, Cedric hid his face behind his shoulders in shyness. "W-Well... Very well! If it will help improve your performance in class!"

"Great!" Sofia laugh back at him, then came up and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention back on her. "Then, if you don't mind?"

As soon as he turned his head back to her inquiry, she kissed him again, leaning in this time and putting her hands on his chest once he'd straightened it out towards her. His eyes widened as she let him feel just a small dose of the passion she had denied their last kiss, which left him breathing heavily through his rather large nose before scrunching it up and pressing back into her kiss. If lions could kiss mice, this would probably be that kind of kiss. But Sofia still managed to keep herself almost as timid as a rabbit, even if she felt more inclined to roar...

She stayed within their kiss a few seconds longer, bubbling up inside as she felt him shyly respond, with still no more than a motherly peck. So she kept the kiss childishly chaste, and pulled away before she stayed too long for him to know what to do anymore. Then she smiled at him, looking aside in the coquettish way her flirtatious sister had long since taught her. "Hmm... Perhaps this Saturday I can teach you a thing or two, as well..."

"What was that?" Cedric mumbled weakly.

"Oh, nothing!" She quickly amended, giving him one last quick kiss to his cheek as she pulled away, and put a few steps of distance between them once more. "You should get some rest yourself too, Cedric! You look strangely exhausted suddenly!"

Perhaps not from physical exertion, but emotionally, the sorcerer had tuckered himself down. Still, he had enough energy to smile wryly back at her, "Yes, and you suddenly seem much more energetic! Would you like to stay and help me grind Hog Warts into powder instead?"

She made a gross face back at him and shook her head no, before quickly making her way to the door. "We can grind whatever you want tomorrow, sir! But for now, I need a long nap!"

He held his breath and waved back at her as she twiddled her fingers at him, before disappearing behind the door. Then he barely had enough time to let out a sigh, and ask himself, "Merlin's mushrooms, what did I just do...?" Before the weight of two diminutive elbows settled down upon both his shoulders.

"You did much, much better than I expected!" His father's voice replied by the right of him, in a pleasantly surprised tone.

And by his left, his mother argued sternly, "He did just as well as I always knew he would!"

Ignoring her, Goodwin carried on nonchalantly, "Oh, and we'll be wanting at least -two- grandchildren, I should say..."

And his mother, in a sing-song voice, reminded him, "But you know I always make enough food for ten~!"

"Oh-!" His face red enough to be confused for a strange pointy tomato, Cedric let out an exasperated cry, and began pushing the endlessly entertained elders back towards their portrait. "Alright you two, back into your painting!"

(( The End! ))


End file.
